


Timely Deception

by TheOnlyHuman



Series: AU: Deep Claws [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Ninja (2018)
Genre: Dick Grayson is a Talon, F/M, Feudal Age Japan, Japanese Culture, Jason Todd has tattoos, Original Japanese Characters, Protective Dick Grayson, Red agrees, as in 1400s, characters foreshadowing their birth, dick grayson is female, here it is, i know im 2 years late shh, in sorry when is the feudal age? They're fighting does that count, the batfamily is precious, the story of this before was deleted by me at 3 am because i got annoyed and rewrote it, to cover the bisection scars on his chest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 07:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23967304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlyHuman/pseuds/TheOnlyHuman
Summary: (2015.)She could remember ice but some days ice was all she could think of.
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Series: AU: Deep Claws [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1074192
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Timely Deception

_Bang._

A flash of light, so bright it made her squint her eyes shut. Internally, Red yowled in discomfort. Externally, Rachel opened her mouth in a silent gasp at the pain of landing hard on sharp stones and choked on the water _in her nose, in her mouth, everywhere._ She couldn't move, struck immobile by the clamour of her fitful mind and aching bones. Something felt off, beit the clarity of the air she breathed or the tenderness of her lungs, she is unsure.

All Rachel knows is that she can't breathe, eyelids fluttering as if in a daze. She's getting sparse, brief images here and there but nothing resolute. Nothing more than a gaggle of women bumbled around her, all dark hair and thin eyes.

_"Quick! Help her up!"_ One girl calls in a language she knew but had forgotten the name of. Arms gripped at her, foreign and unwanted; intrusive, nearly painful.

Rachel tensed in waiting but they only pulled her up, away from the water. Towards safety, towards the bright lights of the real world, enshrined by trees and enlightened by the pale of the setting sun. She can open her eyes now, can meet the pale blue of an unknown sky with her own hazy sight.

Rachel does not know where she is. She can remember a fight, in Gotham, with Grodd and his newest crew of evildoers. They'd called themselves the Contemporary of Evil, this time, or something like that. She wasn't even sure who was in on it either. Mr Freeze, maybe?

She could remember ice but some days ice was all she could think of.

_"Is she alright?"_ Another girl asked as Rachel blinked for the fourth time. The gaggle grew around her, faces swarming her line of sight, all young pale faced innocence. There's six of them. Each one wearing a yukata.

_Fuck,_ she thought and shuddered at Red's hitching, panicked mutter. _Japan. We're in Japan._

_"I don't know, ask her yourself, Shizu!"_ A voice from behind her snapped at the lighy sounding one, pitch harsh and commanding. Only then does Rachel perceive the small but strong hand on her back, keeping her dazed ass sitting upright. She'd thought she was lying on the ground but evidently she'd been wrong.

Red chittered uneasily.

_"Are you okay, miss?"_ The woman questioned again, the lighter toned one rather than the harsh one. Shizu, if the information is to be believed.

Rachel fought the urge to recoil at the six women huddled around her, each displaying various shades of emotion; worry to suspicion. A second of silence swept across the group, giving the impression that hours had passed. When she finally processed what was happening, the women were squabbling around her, hissing about some Mistress or something.

Rachel's not sure what is going on. Her head hurts and she just wants to cuddle with Jason in bed. She thought of Jason and consequentially thought of bombs. Ah, yes. Grodd had been in possession of a bomb he'd claimed would freeze time itself.

Bleakly, she wondered what had went wrong with Grodd's bomb for her to have woken here. Perhaps she was in a coma? Although, she was half sure comatose patients only relived memories and _this_ — lying between a group of bickering Japanese women in old era clothing — was _not_ a memory of hers.

Maybe she'd finally gone insane. It wasn't as much a relief as she'd thought it would've been.

_"—would be understanding, Himiniko!"_

_"No,"_ scowled the harsh voiced one, _"When has she ever truly understood anything for what is it? When has she ever not smiled the way she does when she thinks she knows? While she is our Mistress, and I respect her, we all know how she runs off with her wi—"_

_"—she's awake!"_

_"She was awake already, Kimizi!"_

_"No, she's blinking now!"_

The women who acted more like girls fell silent again and all gazed down at her, a few neckbones snapping as they whirled their heads to stare her down. Now that Rachel was more aware she could see how they all wore the same dull brown yukata and they all had their hair pulled back tightly, in different plaits or do-up's. Brown eyeshadow that matched their yukata fluttered over their eyes, accenting their eyelashes and their big, bug eyes.

"Where am I?" She asked her default question and realised her fogged mind's mistake too late. The women recoiled like zebras in response to a lion's grin.

_"What language does she speak?"_ A woman with two low hanging plaits asked. Rachel linked her voice to the face and assumed that this girl was Shizu.

_"Perhaps Mistress would like to know,"_ a new voice said. Her eyes gleamed a cordial blue and her hair was held up with one of those chopstick-like jade pins.

_"Why?"_ A woman with bellicose brown eyes that shimmered a duller shade than that of their yukata snarled. _"She's already crazy enough as it is, there is no need to add this sky-faller to the equation!"_

Rachel coughed as her throat tingled, drawing back all eyes accidentally. She spoke in Japanese this time. _"Where am I?"_

The women seemed suspicious now. Well, brown eyes and another with sharp green embers for irises and a thin mouth, seemed to be.

Shizu smiled, sympathy welling up in her eyes. _"Oh darling, you must've hit your head. You're in Kusatsu, remember?"_

_"I don't think she will,"_ hissed the one with brown eyes. She went ignored as Rachel thought on that.

Could she be in modern day Gunma Prefecture, just north-west of Tokyo? That meant she was most certainly in Japan, and judging from the oddly traditional wear she was either in an old sector or...

Or the past.

_Just our luck,_ whined Red.

Rachel was inclined to agree.

_"What year is it?"_ She asked and although brown eyes glowered at her and their owner stood rudely, another woman with one long plait and beautiful mauve eyes seemed to take pity on her, frowning in concern.

_"It is 1482, miss. Are you alright? How do you feel?"_

_"As if she's going to be fine, Alasia! She fell from the sky!"_ The final woman perked up, eyes almost shimmering gold as the yellow deep in her hazel orbs shone off the waters light. She seemed simultaneously confused and stuck between excited and awed.

Rachel wondered why before realising how stupid she was.

She was decked out in her Nightwing suit. And now that she was aware of it she could feel her two swords stabbing into her back from their holds. Her gauntlets sat in silence, her comm buzzed lightly like an annoying fly and she was soaked in the water of what appeared to be quite a large stream. A washing stream, if the pile of clothes over by the stones to her right indicated anything.

_"What happened when I fell?"_ She asked. Her post-modern Japanese likely sounded rusty and garbled to the women but they took it in stride, easily answering.

_"The sky opened up,"_ said thin lips and sharp eyes, Himiniko apparently. _"And you fell through, disturbed the water enough to make us jump."_

_"Yes, yes."_ Alasia nodded. _"Gave us quite a fright, miss. May I ask your name?"_

Rachel's mind came up on a blank so she resorted to one of Stephanie's undercover IDs. _"Sukio Qwuhana."_

No reaction. Good.

She needed to lay low.

_"Well then, Miss Qwuhana,"_ started the woman with gold eyes. _"We think you might want to see our Mistress."_

_Shit._

They were handmaids, the women explained. Personal Maids to the richest woman in Japan in the current era — she would remain to be until the late 1500s when she died unexpectedly (likely of old age though no history books were sure) but they didn't know that. They seemed proud of their roles in society, talking about them like Jason talked about Catherine, and her teaching him Spanish.

Out of respect for a time so advanced yet so long ago, Rachel listened.

Okimi Setsumuno's husband had died late last fall, leaving her a lavish manor, lands and power galore. With her undisputed title as a fierce war commander she was left alone by the other faction clan leaders. Tokugawa (the current Shogun) didn't particularly seem to mind a woman clan leader and so no action had been taken. A blessing amongst few.

The maids boasted that famine rates and deaths had dropped significantly in the lands since their Mistress Setsumuno had began praying to the gods, worshipping them, even receiving visions and advice from them. They called it a miracle, her a prophet of sorts. Rachel had another opinion but didn't say it aloud as to not offend anyone.

Setsumuno Grounds was large and lavish. With the traditional bamboo, tall buildings and colour pallette of browns, reds and blacks it looked the part and blended in with the landscape well.

The woman with gold eyes — Anaito — kneeled on the bamboo, bowing her head before knocking in it softly. _"Mistress,"_ she began carefully.

_"Yes, Yuro?"_ A silken voice of unnamable comprehension questioned. Shivers ran up Rachel's back without explanation.

_"We found a woman in the stream—"_

_"I know."_

Anaito squeezed her long fingers into a fist. Something told Rachel the woman was running low on patience, she didn't seem to believe the entire 'prophet' thing either, even if she wasn't as vocal about it as Himiniko or Mikosun (brown eyes). _"Do you wish to hold an audience with her, my lady?"_

A hushed silence, then: _"Send her in. Do not dally."_

Rachel walked into the large room and kneeled on the red cushion opposite the woman dressed in a beautiful blue kimono with light floral designs. Her hair was outlandishly short for this time and between that and her smeared red eyeshadow Rachel got the idea that she was a bit of a rulebreaker. Or just insane.

Trying to remember proper Japanese manners and etiquette, she took a deep, respectful greeting-bow and kept her eyes diverted. Eye contact was considered deeply disrespectful and was considered punishable by great means. Rachel wasn't really in the mood for testing the woman's temper either.

She didn't have time to. She needed to disappear, to build up some form of defense and attempt to find Jason (if he was even here, if she wasn't in a coma and was actually here, if she was still sane).

_"I understand you come from times beyond us."_ The very fact it wasn't a question caught her off-guard. Rachel startled, squaring her shoulders as she became tense once more. She threw away the rules and pulled her eyes up to Setsumuno's face but the woman was busy pouring tea into the cups on the small kata table between them. _"Honey?"_

_"Please,"_ she said in response to the real question. And, _"what makes you think that?"_

Setsumuno smiled mischieviously as she lowered down the teapot after filling the cups. _"I have my ways,"_ she hummed, voice like wet silicon or red velvet. _"And they are oft accurate sources."_

Rachel's instant instinct was to disagree, to attack, to politely work her way out of this. She pushed that thrum against her heart down. Red murmured something lost to her mindscape.

_"Indeed."_ She smiled instead. _"I have heard of you, Mistress Setsumuno."_

_"Please, futurist."_ The woman who had to be in her forties shook her head knowingly. She pushed her cup over. Green tea. _"Flattery will not get you anywhere. Not here."_

_"Funny,"_ she took a sip of the tea after scenting it for poison (and finding nothing suspicious). It flowed down her throat, oddly soothing as the honey mixed with the chamomile and made her chest tingle pleasingly. Still, her throat twinged from her forcefully swallowing and choking on the stream water. It was a feeling Rachel was sure would remain for a while yet. _"Where I come from it does wonders."_

_"Interesting. Still, irrelevant. I am aware you wish to wait it out for the Bat to come, yes?"_

Rachel didn't answer. Her nerves were on fire. The cup in her hands felt too hot, too heavy, _too much—_

_Breathe, human,_ Red called. _Deep breaths._

Setsumuno gave her a smug look from over the rim of her cup. _"Indeed, then. I am afraid it will be five months until that time. You have many options but your best is to seek shelter with me."_

She paused to sip at her tea but Rachel had already zoned out. She knew about Bruce, about Batman and although if you had enough knowledge it wasn't hard to figure out who she was in current time but in the past — almost four hundred years before Nightwing's birth— it was startling.

A prophet or a time traveller?

Rachel was willing to go for the latter. "Where did you come from?" She asked in english.

"Dallas, Texas." The woman smiled, her accent now peaking through with the use of her choppy sounding english. Rachel wondered how long she'd been around for. "My daddy was a butcher and my momma a teacher. I liked my history."

"When from?"

"2042. It was peaceful but boring. Worked in the local Uni, an experiment gone wrong landed me here so here I am."

Rachel couldn't keep the snip of her sarcasm out of her words, "Taking advantage of the fresh air?"

The woman smirked, "In a way."

"What's your real name?" She inquired, reeling herself back under the tight walls of control. She could not afford to lose herself here of all places.

The woman laughed, soft and fluttery like a soft sponge cake on the tongue. " _A-ah-a!_ I can't tell you that, it's classified!"

"Classified?" It sounded so stupid Rachel had to stop herself from snickering.

"Yes," Setsumuno said. "I can't have you finding out things from the future due to my name."

That was _interesting_.

Back to the subject on hand: _getting home._

"Is there a way to get me home?"

Setsumo levelled her with a goading smirk. "You really think I'd still be here if it was that easy? You've got it good though, your family'll be round in a bit so I suggest you stick around. I'll have Shizu get a room ready for you."

It wasn't the least bit amusing as she got things decided for her, but Rachel decided to do Alf proud and use her manners.

"Thank you."

"Por supuesto," the woman winked. Rachel walked away, thinking on how the history books had said none of this.

Rachel levelled the borrowed katana out in front of her, steadied and balanced herself, then struck out at the tree. It connected but the blade only sliced through half of it before Rachel had to pull it out. She'd have to break out the whetstones tonight, if the blunting edge of the blade said anything.

_The infamous maker of whetstones,_ Red giggled. _We can't wait._

_"Not half bad,"_ Alasia clapped, tone chipper despite how her hands were red from the force with which she scrubbed at the washboard and clothes.

_"Really?"_ She hummed disbelievingly.

_"I admit, you are pretty good, Qwuhana."_ Anaito called from where she was pulling her hair up into a high ponytail, holding it in place with a small red bow.

_"Thanks,"_ Rachel smiled. She'd been with Setsumuno for just over two weeks, and in that time she tended to hang out with the lively group of maids. They were good fun, at least.

_"Sure,"_ Ana shrugged. _"I mean, I'm probably way better but for a beginner, you're decent."_

_"That a challenge, An?"_ Rachel had found Anaito to be the leader of sorts. Not only was she just a few years older than the others, she was a senior maid. It made sense; An was nice, lively and happy if you caught her in the right moment. Rachel liked her, honestly.

_"Only when I finish this washing, Qwu."_ Anaito motioned towards her pile of shinobi garbs. _"If only the men hadn't seen to it that they all slid down the muddy hill over by the east banks, I wouldn't be here."_

_"You know you love it, Anai."_ Shizu said, easing one of her undergarments into the smooth but deep waters of the stream.

The maids all had assigned clothing to wash: Alasia had Setsumuno's kimono; Anaito had the clan's warriors kimono; Shizu had the maids' yukata and Rachel's tomesode (because recently she'd been lumped in with them despite being a 'visitor', she suspected it was because she'd been hanging around with them); Mikosun had ended up with an embroidered tapestry that had gotten dirty; Kimizi had settled for everyone's underwear and Himiniko had taken the obi and tabis. They were all hard workers, that Rachel had to admit.

_"Where would you ever get that idea from, Shizu?"_ Ana crowed, sounding playful.

_"The same place where she got those terrible ideals,"_ Himiniko quipped unkindly. _"The bottom of the ditch."_

_"Hey!"_ Alasia frowned, attempting to play the other woman's rudeness off. _"Don't you mean in the ocean?"_

Kimizi smiled. _"Thank you, Alas! That's really nice of you — I love the ocean!"_

That was funny, Rachel mused. Considering they lived in one of eight landlocked divisions of the whole country. It would've been a miracle if any of them had ever seen the sea. She was sure there was an Onsen somewhere near here though, maybe that had helped.

She decided to pipe up to test that knowledge. _"_ _Hey, isn't there a hot springs somewhere around here?"_

Mikosun scowled from where she was perched upon a large rock, scrubbing at the scroll. _"So what?"_

_"There is, Qwu."_ Ana nodded, side-eyeing Mikosun contemptuosly.

_"We should take you there sometime, Qwuhana!"_ Shizu smiled, sounding excited.

_"That sounds great,"_ Rachel agreed wholeheartedly. She wondered distantly if one of the girls would wash her hair for her, it had been years since Jason had done such a thing. In fact, the only time she definitely remembered him doing so was the night they'd teamed up against the Joker. That had been well over a decade ago.

_"Good, I'll ask to see if we can go tonight. It's only a fifteen minute walk,"_ Ana said then made a disgusted noise a second later. _"Eww — one of the guys dumped their fundoshi into my basket, Kizimi!"_

Rachel looked up from the blade to find Ana holding up a white cotton g-string by two pinched fingers. The look on her face was almost comically scandilized.

Kimizi laughed good naturedly and stood from her sitting position. She pulled the g-string away from Anaito, smiling all the while.

_"What's wrong, Yuro?"_ Mikosun smirked cruelly. Rachel had forgotten how mean people could be, women in particular. _"Flustered over a pair of underwear you'll never have near you or your bed otherwise?"_

Something gleamed in Ana's eyes as she picked up her next hakama. _"Excuse me?"_

Rachel stood back as she watched the two women fire quips at one another, each one more agressive than the last. While Mikosun's lack of mind to tongue filter bothered her, the change in Ana's body language held her attention more.

If she'd heard right, that had been a shot at her sexuality. At it, Ana's BL had went from calm and a bit repulsed to horrifically offended, even a tad shocked. Perhaps she wasn't into men?

Rachel could see how Mikosun's words could've hit a nerve.

_"Miko, just shut up!"_ Alasia snipped back, standing up for her friend who now apeared quite hurt emotionally. _"Taking out your own jealousy on others is not the right way to live."_

Mikosun spluttered in offense at that. Himiniko shot forward, taking sides. _"Jealous? Who could be jealous of that dōseiai-sha bitch? She's nothing more than a whore!"_

Rachel frowned. _"There's no need to be so rude, Himi—"_

_"No! Shut it, foreigner,"_ Himiniko hissed viciously. _"You are not welcome here, nor are you wanted so why don't you just leave?"_

_"I would if I could,"_ Rachel said, missing the way Anaito's eyes dulled at her words. _"But I'm here for now and while I am, I won't tolerate you treating my friends wrongly."_

_"As if you have words to speak and ground to stand on, Sukio Qwuhana."_ Mikosun growled _. "We could get rid of you in an instant, or even less!"_

_"Funny,"_ she fired back, calm as ever. _"All it takes is one little word to Setsumuno and boom, you two are gone."_

They whirled on her fully now, rage tinting and corroding their features. As if they really thought she'd go to Setsumuno before skewering them through.

_Fools will be fools,_ Red languished.

_"You wouldn't dare!"_ Mikosun screamed in outrage.

_"You have been here two weeks, as if the Mistress would listen to you!"_ Himiniko joined, trying to reassure herself.

_"Are you so sure?"_ Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow with long practiced nonchalance.

The two fell silent at her smirk.

_Thought_ _so_ , she smiled at them with too many teeth to be kind. _"Get back to work. I'd also suggest you find time to apologise to Anaito properly. Before tomorrow."_

They glowered at her together.

_"So,"_ she continued on as if nothing had happened, addressing the other five. The two scowling girls seemed put off by her topic change, expressions faltering until she levelled them with a smug smirk. _"What time do you think you'll get off at?"_

Seven o'clock was the answer.

The sun was setting by the time the other girls were allowed to venture off with Rachel. As it was, she was in her shared room with Anaito (because apparently Setsumuno hadn't realised her shinobi were taking up all the spare rooms, and Rachel refused to sleep in a storge cupboard). The futon was soft as Rachel lay on its covers, waiting for Ana to find something suitable for her to wear.

"Thank you," Ana said, voice mellow as she spoke in the sort of english only a nativespeaker could hope to have at their fingertips.

Rachel jerked and rolled her head between her folded arms. "You speak English?"

Ana looked at her, a light navy yukata clutched in her hand as she withdrew from the wardrobe. "I do. Alice wasn't the only one to come through that portal."

"Portal?" She question immediately, sitting up as Ana motioned for her to do so. The yukata fluttered into her lap. "Alice?"

Ana dropped herself onto the rare stool at her desk. "Alice is Setsumuno's real name, she not tell you?"

"No," Rachel said truthfully. Standing and beginning to undo her obi she watched the other woman. "She never hinted towards you being here with her."

"I like my privacy," Ana said, a meek shrug covering layers of hurt.

Rachel spoke before the quiet became entrenched between them. "And the portal?"

"Labs were playing around with something. It went wrong, became a black hole and sucked itself in, me and Alice just so happened to be there too. Got pulled along for the ride, I guess."

Rachel dropped the obi down onto the futon, pulled off the nagajuban and the hiyoku and spared Ana a second glance to find her staring at her hands which were bundled in her lap. She pulled on the yukata, left side over right, and tied it.

"Sounds rough," she said eventually.

"Mmm," she hummed. Her fingers moved, pulling at the hem of her own soft floral yukata. It was a lovely blood red and white. "It wasn't easy, neither of us knew Japanese so we lurked around, learnt off the locals before we tried anything. Alice got lucky, Lord Setsumuno liked her charm."

She trailed off and Rachel, fucking Rachel of all people, didn't have the heart to pull her back.

"What's your real name, then?" She inquired instead, voice softer than she'd spoken to anyone in a while.

Ana looked up, saw her tucking in her yukata into the obi and stood. "Anna. Anna Wilhelm. Yours?"

"Rachel," she admitted easily enough. Anna obviously wasn't as into history as Alice was. "Rachel Wayne."

Anna nodded, "Heard of the Waynes before."

"I hope not for the wrong reasons," Rachel laughed.

"No, no," Anna laughed too, smiling ruefully as she shook her head. "Not in the least. Quite the opposite in fact. Your reputation is good, Nightwing."

A pit stormed into her gut, "People know who I am?"

"No," she shook her head again, pulling on her neat zori sandals with a flourish. "I know about Nightwing. Honestly who doesn't? I pieced it together from your suit."

Rachel smirked, feeling calmed. She pulled on her borrowed zori and stood.

"So..." Anna started, "Time travel?"

"Yep, Grodd decided to trash our party with Zsasz and a few others and completely messed up. Batman went after his little device but didn't make it in time. So here I am."

"And the others?" Anna asked.

Rachel hesitated. The bamboo doors shook as a loud knock echoed within the room.

_"Anai, Qwuhana, c'mon! We're all waiting!"_ Shizu called.

Anna nodded at the door and shyly grabbed her hand to pull her along.

_"This is nice,"_ Anna sighed, once more speaking fluently in Japanese as she sunk into the cloudy waters of the Onsen. Now that Rachel knew she was American too she could see how the other woman strove to look the part, to blend in, but ultimately she stood out, her eyes were too big, she was too pale, too outlandish. It all seemed so obvious, Rachel wondered how she hadn't realised it before.

Rachel wondered if the other girls knew she was American. Knew that she came with Alice. That Anaito Yuro came to Japan with Okiri Setsumuno.

She doubted it.

_"Yush,"_ Shizu agreed, smile a mile long. _"It's so lovely and warm!"_

Rachel had slunk into the deeper, cloudier bit of the bath simply because of her scars. How was she to explain, to four women who just thought she was some weirdo skyfaller, the scars that reached over her chest from CADMUS, the jags along her arms and legs from the Court and Cobb's training. There was no plausible means for excuse, and she didn't exactly want to spill her entire life story. She didn't want to create a fuss.

So she embraced the sting of hot steam in her eyes and hunkered down, revelling in the heat. Entirely alone until Anna left the main group conversation and walked over to her.

Now, Anna was in no ways unblessed, in fact, she had quite the big payload. Rachel jokingly nudged her, raising an eyebrow to which she blushed.

Himiniko laughed at something that the others seemed sour about so the two of them floated back, to where the bath was suffocated with steam and where no prying eyes could see. Rachel could still hear the conversation bustling around them but it was hushed, muted in a way that was nice.

They leaned with their backs against the edge, a satisfied lull between them. Anna leaned into her side, skin soft and warm, flush against hers. Rachel offered her an easy smile as she leaned into her too.

A few minutes later, with Alasia and Kimizi's voices leading a tall tale, Anna's nimble fingers crept up her thigh. They danced there, running along the scars happily and swirling down around her kneecap and her calf which were easily accessible at their odd level.

"Heard you were gay," Rachel said quietly, recalling Himiniko's shouted profanities from earlier on in the day.

Her words, designed to pull Anna out of her shell, backfired as the woman stiffened. Her breezing hand withdrew and Rachel's body mourned the loss.

"So?" She asked, voice too low for Rachel to make out her tone. Her head dipped, nose so low Rachel thought she'd be breathing in the water in a second should the water ripple. With the woman beside her stiff and body language clammy, Rachel looked at her face to find her eyes but found them covered by her thick, almost curly hair.

"Well I was going to say I'm Bi and very much inclusive," Rachel admitted. She felt better saying it and the memories of when she'd told Jason met her once more. She remembered how she'd been worried about it and how Jason had laughed her off, saying he was too. They'd made it explicitly clear their relationship wasn't exclusive and sex was free for anybody, as long as they owned up to it afterwards. Because really, sometimes a gay chick just doesn't want some dick. And vise versa, of course.

Rachel really didn't mind, but she liked clearing it with her partners before they went ahead and got attached or anything.

"Ah," Anna looked up, hair shifting to reveal beautifully golden eyes that shone in the moon's light from above. "Inclusive? Are you suggesting—?"

Rachel shrugged, curiosity welling up inside her. Red purred for the heat, eager to revel in the lust that came with one-time galavants. "Only if you're up for it."

Anna looked down again, smiling softly now as her hair re-envelloped her face. Her hand slid back onto Rachel's thigh.

Rachel brushed her hair back behind her ears and pulled her in for a kiss.

The ground seized, flowers quivering as their roots were disrupted. Soil was pushed forth, rising like a fountain into the air. Rachel watched, horror stricken, as a familiar ghaslty hand worked its way up from the depths of the shallow grave. Was this how Jason had crawled out of his grave? All bleeding fingers and bared teeth or had it been with scratched fists, clenched teeth and planks of wood?

In this moment, though, she did not want to know. She didn't want to think about her boyfriend hauling himself out of his own grave, back in the early 2000s', when here there was a monster emerging.

The gravestone was blank, wasn't even a gravestone at all, spare the fact it had been placed there in a mockery of the man-- of the thing. It was old, wood chipped and weathered, the rope that kept the two thin sticks in the shape of a cross frayed and haggard. There was nothing etched on it but then the monster was lucky they'd even desecrated its grave with anything at all.

A second hand emerged from the soil, hollow screams for help echoing under her feet -and then, as her legs gave out- under her knees. The sound reverberated through her bones, shaking her to the core. Rachel wanted to throw up, felt the bile rise in her throat, tracing a torturous path from her stomach along her trachea. It was too much.

She gasped in a breath, relatively aware that she needed oxygen in her blood if she ever wanted to see Jason again. Yes, to see Jason she needed to be alive. Alive.

Like the monster in front of her was. But she didn't want to be a dead man crawling up from a grave. Although she didn't think she would be.

The man's fingers scrabbled at the dirt, picking up traction as hands emerged. Rachel kneeled there and watched, shocked and terrorfied. After what felt like months had passed, forearms emerged and then a torso, a head limp against the chest. The worn suit was in tatters despite how Rachel remembered burning the bastard to ash.

A low cackle rung out, red lips parted as the head jolted upright. Caught crawling from his own grave, the Joker smiled at her.

"Hello, Rachel," he said, tone sickly sweet. "What says you and I have some fun?"

He reached for her and for the life of her, she couldn't move. Rachel gasped in larger breaths, subconsciously shivering as Joker freed his legs from tangling soil and hauled himself forwards like a demon scittering towards its prey. The sight was one from a horror movie of the late eighties, only this was no movie and it was most certainly not the eighties.

Joker grabbed her arm, grin turning feral as he peered close and made her stare into pin-prick black eyes. "Hm, Rachel? What do you say?" He chuckled, the sound low and haunting as he leant over, dark tongue trailing down her neck.

Rachel's throat felt like it had closed up, leaving her unable to speak nevermind scream. Her neck burned where he touched her, each hair on her body standing on rise. All she could do was suck in ragged gasps. She wanted to die. She wanted to die. Why couldn't she die. She wanted to run. Needed to run.

Needed to move first.

_Pleasepleaseplease_ she begged Red but it was nowhere in her head to beg to.

"Don't worry," crooned Joker. "I'll take good care of you," he said, bloodied raw fingers trailing down to the hem of her shirt.

Her throat caught her voice and she screamed. "No!" Jolting upright, pushing off some weird blanket that made her chest heavy, she gasped for air. Her skin burned like needles were stabbing into her.

A hand touched her. Rachel jerked, instincts kicking into overdrive no matter how much Red lullabied her mind. She was off the futon in an instant, knees crashing hard against rugged tatami mats as she simultaneously tried to grab a weapon and curl into herself.

Her chest burned. Her body ached where Joker had touched her. But the bastard was dead, buried a couple hundred years in the future, nothing more than a pile of ash.

Ash. He was dead. He was ash.

_That's right,_ Red soothed. _He's dead. Can't hurt you no more. It's alright._

_It hurts,_ she thought, unsure of just what was hurting.

_No, it doesn't. You're fine,_ Red assured her, cold clawed hands trailed along her shoulders as they quivered. Her knees panged. A talon dug into her skin, the only pain mental. _You're scaring the girl._

_Who—_ she looked up, eyes clearing as she stared into the golden eyes of the girl. What was her name? Anca? No, that was hers. Allah? That was Dami's god's. Anna. She was Anna.

Anna frowned at her, soft fingers wavering inches away from the bare skin of her biceps. She looked unsure, reeked of the salty tang that was confusion. Her brows had furrowed, she was kneeled before her like Rachel had kneeled before—

Her breath came short, _eyes in the corners, eyes everywhere, they're watching, red eyes in the corner, spiders on the ceiling, crawling, lurking, knowing, Red crouched beside her, she's in Jason's little cottage, blinds opened, lightning flashing in the distance, the rumble of thunder, red eyes, Cobb's eyes, red eyes,_ red eyes in the corner

"Rachel?"

Her vision went blurry as she blinked. The room righted itself, a stranger in front of her, Jason gone. She's no longer in the cottage, just kneeling on rough uncomfortable floor boards that Jason would never have in a safehouse because they're disgusting and unhygienic and— gods, she misses Jason.

"Rachel? D-Do you need anything?" The stranger leaned forward, shifting back quickly as Rachel flinched. The world burned in and out of focus. She was tired. Her lungs ached like she'd drowned again. She wondered if she had.

Was she in that coma?

"I could get you a hot towel, if you'd like?" The stranger, Anna, stood. Rachel watched her go, suddenly feeling the breeze as she realised she was naked spare a light billowing undergarment shirt that looked too twenty-first century to rightfully belong here in 14-something AD.

She stood, knees threatening her integrity. The moon was out, a full moon it would've been, if not for a chafed off sliver. Anna returned and Rachel stood there, instincts fizzing and screaming and burning as she watched and listened and stalked. The girl looked at the futon, back to her, gaze lingering.

Rachel tilted her head, the yellow of her eyes reflected back at her through the lush of the other's. Fear permeated the room. The girl was scared of her. Good. Mortals had to fear her. Had to fear The Talon. The Queen.

No, she blinked, the yellow faded to blue once more. The room still stunk of horror. Anna was afraid now. Afraid of her.

Rachel swayed where she stood, eyes burning, arms heavy weights by her side. The human girl shuffled towards the futon, speaking, opening her mouth — although Rachel could hear not one word. The girl paused, expectant. Rachel glanced her over, noting no weapons on her, just a steaming cloth cupped in her hands and a loose yukata wrapped around her bodice.

She nodded. Slowly, trembling like a rabbit on its last legs, pretending she wasn't shaking, the girl helped her into the futon once more. Rachel watched her, eyes tracing every curve, every movement. Once she'd pulled the blankets up to her waist, the girl pushed her hands forth, still cupping the steaming cloth, and gently lowered it onto her forehead. She jerked, limbs stiffening as the heat made itself known. It soothed her headache and drowned out the ringing in her ears.

Reaching up to prod at the cloth, she eyed Anna. The girl was watching her, stooped awkwardly over her as she debated something humane enough that Rachel was unsure of what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry," she said at last, english sounding thick on her tongue. The girl stood to her laxidasical full height of 5'3 and offered a smile that was too bright to be real. She was a bad actor. "Rest now, no more harm will come upon you tonight."

_A lie,_ she thought, knowing the girl didn't believe it herself because she smelt rotten, like strawberries sitting in the sun for too long. Anna smelt like she'd lied and that made something in Rachel shrivel a little, made something else caw in anguish.

Oh so carefully, the girl lowered herself down beside her, enough space between them that if Rachel were to kick out she wouldn't touch her. She wondered for a moment if she had hurt the girl before deciding that she hadn't been limping so it couldn't be that bad.

Still, she kept her eyes open, watching. Anna rolled onto her back at some point, when the moon was faltering on the horizon. Only when the sun rose again did she realise that she hadn't fallen back asleep. Deep in her chest, she burned with pain.

Jason appeared two months in, if one counted from the very beginning. He landed smack dab in the middle of the courtyard and smiled brilliantly at her despite the numerous katanas aimed for his throat. Trust him to pick her out instantly.

Rachel put on a pleased look and smiled back before pulling up the ends of her kimono to make her way down off the elevated platform Setsumuno sat on to watch her shinobi train.

_"Stand down!"_ Alice called and her men rustled but pulled back their weapons. They stood around for a moment before they saw her approaching. Obediently, at her nod, they fell back, folding back into their pairs for training.

"Jason," she smirked, pulling him down into a kiss. He was sweaty, his helmet clutched in his hands and remarkably he'd landed on his feet unlike her. "Baby, I've missed you so bad."

He huffed out a breath, kissing her back before pulling up and looking around him as he looped her hand in his. The height difference was irritating as he ruffled her hair.

"Damn nice place you've got here, bunny." He said, running his free hand through his hair, pushing back his tuft of white. Jason took it all in and glanced down at her. "You seem happy."

She laughed, "What can I say? There's good sex round here."

Jason smiled and his eyes flicked up to meet Alice's. "And she'd be?"

"The owner of this place. An accidental time-traveller from 2048 or something. Same as the girl in the red kimono beside her. They came here together in a lab accident. Alice and Anna."

"Which one'd'ya fuck?" He asked cheekily, boots clanking on the ground as he took a step forward at her persistent tugs on his arm. She led him over to the platform, thanking the fact that the other five maids were off doing a couple errands.

"Hey!" She scolded goodnaturedly. "Anna, the one in red. She was damn good too."

Jason laughed — his deep rumbling chuckle that made Rachel feel wholly at ease. He seemed calm too, happy because she was, even if he was still panting from the fight he'd been in seconds ago. In a few hours he'd crash from the adrenaline rush, like she had, but she'd be there for him.

Alice nodded at Jason like she knew him well. "Red Hood," she spoke in english first. "You speak Japanese?"

_"Sure do,"_ Jason grunted, sounding jarred now that Rachel had been surrounded by fluent speakers for so long. _"Pleasure?"_

_"Setsumuno,"_ Alice smiled. Her eyes gleamed. _"I've kept Sukio in my care for just about two months now, warrior. I take it you wish for the same?"_

Jason snorted, rolling his eyes. The look he levelled her with for using one of Stephanie's aliases spoke volumes. _"Sure, Setsumuno."_

He drawled the name better than Rachel thought he would've. She burst in, before he could do something to offend the warriors listening in. _"This is my partner..."_

_"Karasu,"_ he decided. Rachel smiled at the name, realising what it meant. _"It's a pleasure, my lady."_

Alice smiled, charmed. _"Of course, Karasu. It is of no consequence. If you do not mind, you could share a room with one of my men, or..?"_

"I'd like to stay with my girl, if that's alright with y'all." Jason said, low enough for only the four of them to hear.

Alice nodded, _"There is room for Anaito elsewhere should you want..."_

"Nah," he chuckled, using his arm to pull Rachel against his side. She eased into the position like she'd been born there. The comfort she felt now that Jason was here was nearly suffocating, the bubble of Jason's words barely audible over the racious hoots of laughter and glee emanating from Red. "I'd like to get to know her too, Rache' says she's great."

Anna blushed, _"_ _I do not mind. My room is large. An extra futon wouldn't hinder anyone."_

Alice gave them all a look but nodded anyway. _"Very well, if that's what you all want. Go ahead."_

"I was Alice's apprentice," Anna said, sitting on her bed, knitting as Jason made his futon right beside Rachel's, with no gap in between them. "She was a senior lab scientist and I was there for a year to study under her before hopefully getting a promo."

"What happened that y'all ended up here?" Jason asked, dropping his helmet down onto the bed and peeling off his jacket as he finished making it.

"Alice wanted to run a few things by a couple boys in the experimental tech department. I went with her. We went in, enquired, and the device went off unexpectedly when we were there. It created a black hole inside of itself, sucking in the main body and us too before it snapped shut."

"How'd'ya know that?"

"That it shut?" Anna asked. Jason nodded and pulled off his domino. Rachel caught it before it hit the ground and carefully began to roll it. "Oh, we hit the ground and turned around in time for it to vanish. Spent about three years trying to learn the language and trying to get home but nothing came up. Eventually, Alice fell in love with Setsumuno and got married and I decided to stick around. With nothing else to do, I became her maid. Honestly the only difference this time around is that I have to wash her clothes."

She laughed and Jason smirked, "There a shower anywhere?"

Anna looked up from what seemed to be the beginnings of a silk scarf. "There's a public bath but it'll be empty and the waters cold round this time. You could wait till later and join the other guys or you could go down to the stream. It's coming into summer so the water's getting warmer. Not that warm but not cold enough to give you hypothermia, I should think."

Jason grimaced. "Right."

He sounded hesitant so Rachel looked up from her book she'd stolen from Alice. "I could go with you, Jay."

Jason's eyes twinkled, saying that was exactly what he wanted. "If you wanna, darlin'."

"Por supuesto," she smiled.

"Fabuloso."

"Two months," Jason grunted, sinking low into the stream.

"Uh-huh."

"What was it like?" He asked, dipping his hands into the running fresh water to splash it over his face and hair.

"It was boring," she said, watching as his muscles pulled and contracted nicely. "The only highlight was the sex, really."

"It must've been amazing, R." Jason noted, "For ya've been talkin' bout it nonstop."

"Sorry," she said, feeling bad now. Something rushed up in her chest and now she felt the lonliness well up, thick and sturdy. It nearly made her choke, already fighting the well of tears. Jason always made her sentimental.

"Don't be, babe." Jason's eyes sparkled with an apology. "I'm just makin' conversation."

"It's just..." She trailed off. Jason waited for her to return. "It's just been so mundane it's become mind-numbing."

Jason laughed. "Lucky you. Getting time off. Up till half an hour ago I was fightin' and you've been here for two months, chillin' an' your appolgizin' like a weirdo."

That didn't make her feel any better. Her silence probably gave that away.

"Sorry, baby." Jason groused. "I don't wanna come off as a twit. I'm a bit jelly over here."

The honesty made her laugh, as it always did. She swung her legs from where she sat on a large boulder directly by the waters. The sun gleamed above, glistening onto the waters to give them a depth unspoken. It wasn't that deep, obviously, for Jason was only submerged up to the thighs, but the light was an illusion all of its own.

"Don't worry, pumpkin. You're not coming off as one."

Jason sighed. "You've had too long to think of pet names yet all you can think of is _pumpkin?"_

Rachel laughed, "I thought it was a good one."

Jason snorted, "Says you, octopus."

"Whatever do you mean?" They both laughed and fell into a comfortable silence.

"How long'd Alice say 'til the rest o' the fam get here?" Jason asked five minutes later, pulling himself out of the stream to get dressed in a spare yukata. The dark blue was pretty, accenting his eyes and making his hair seem a shiny raven colour.

"Three months now, roughly." Rachel said. "She mentioned you guys would show up randomly within that timeframe, with B coming last."

Jason made a noise as he shook his head, fastening his yukata. He messed it up almost immediately so Rachel jumped off her rock to help him with a laugh. "Weird how the old man's the last."

"Alice said he was the one who'd gather attention," Rachel recited the woman's words from their private meeting a few days ago. She kissed his fabric covered shoulder as she finished tying his yukata. "Said he would gather warriors like a flame. Them being the moths."

Jason shrugged, getting himself comfortable in the alien clothing. It was certainly an odd sight, though perhaps one Rachel could get used to. "Right. I still say we get some defenses and such, if this battle she says really is gonna happen."

Grodd appeared three days later. He ravaged the eastern lands of Toyko, amassing an army that roared with the vicious call of death. With Zsasz and Victor Freeze at his side, he was near unkillable. The people of Japan fell into turmoil as clans and their leaders tumbled left and right, seemingly overnight, ice left in their wake.

Rachel, Jason, Anna and the other maids are stunned into silence as they sit at the table of which Alice summoned everyone to, maid, visitor and shinobi alike. She'd warned them to be ready, to be ready to fight and defend.

She's met with a firm, resolute silence. A guarantee they'll stand up for their home. (Even if it isn't really Rachel or Jason's they aren't ones to back down from a fight.)

"What do we do," Jason asked her that night, when they'd snuck into the onsen together. "What'll we do if he kills us before the others get here?"

"He won't," Rachel whispered back. "Because if he lays a grubby finger on you, I'll gut him alive."

The breathy chuckle echoed in her ear. "'Kay. Then I'll take out the icicle and madman."

"No," she said. "We'll do it together, just like we always have. We'll hold out for our family."

"Like always," he agreed, solidifying their unspoken promise.

A storm hit them early in the summer, sweeping across the land and uprooting everything from crop to stone. An oddity, the women claimed, already shuffling about to tie down anything that so much as swayed with a light breeze, but not completely unusual.

The tatami mat flooring was cool against her bare back, her kimono layers sprawled around her. The air was humid and dry, the worst for Rachel's mood. With the slides open she had a great view of the gardens as the rain lashed down, clouds rolling in the grey skies as thunder roared and lighting arched in the distance.

"You not gonna close that?" Jason muttered, looking up from his book as a particularly hard breeze shuffled its way into the room, blowing a few of the tapestries on the walls and making them clatter as they collapsed back into place like well trained soldiers.

"Nah," she hummed, arms folded behind her head. Her pink kimono moved in the wind and she sighed at the feeling of the cool wind against her stomach. Who would've known Minka could get so warm? "It's nice."

"It's cold," said an all too familiar voice that shouldn't be with them.

Jason shouted, pulling to his feet instantly, as Rachel jerked and shot up like the devil possessed. Her back burned briefly as the skin was peeled away from the tatami mats but she paid it no heed, too busy gaping at the sight before her. She hurried to wrap the kimono around her breasts, as to not scare the boy.

Duke stood there, visor glowing as he held his hands up peacefully. "Hey," he smiled awkwardly as they squared off. Rachel could hear the thump of his heart, could see the bulge of his eyes as he gasped for breath.

"Damn, kid." Jason groaned, striding forward to pull him into a bonecrushing hug. "You good?"

"Uh, yeah?" Duke didn't sound certain but none of them ever did. "Where are we?"

"Feudal Japan, 1482." Rachel disclosed. "We've been here a while, that bright light was Grodd's time device exploding. It pulled us in."

Duke nodded and added, "So you're both just... chillin'?"

Jason's smirk was telling enough. The younger boy smiled and shook his head like he couldn't quite believe it. Rachel still couldn't.

"Hot damn," he murmured, confirming Rachel's suspicions. "I've always wanted to go to Japan. I even know a little."

"Oh?" Rachel asked, feeling the unjust smirk tug at her lips.

"Yep!" The boy seemed overjoyed. _"Chickens!"_

Jason burst out laughing, unsure hoots turning into loud, booming hollers as he clapped Duke on the back in his fit. "Chickens?"

Rachel stifled her giggle at Duke's blank look. "Chickens? No, I said 'hello'!"

Rachel shook her head amidst the full-blown laugh, body shaking as she struggled to remain sitting upright, her palms growing sweaty resulting in her form sliding back. Jason cackled, knees giving out on him as he dropped to the mats with a thud. Duke seemed to get that he hadn't said what he thought he had when the door quivered and two men, Alice in the back, charge in as it slid open.

_"This would be?"_ Alice asked, breaking the mood with her glowering frown.

Rachel waved them off. _"A friend,"_ she managed eventually. _"He is my son."_

_"Your son?"_ Alice queried, brow creasing. _"He does not—"_ A flicker of recognition passed. _"Oh, I see. Very well then."_

With a motion the soldiers were retreating back with unsure glances. Alice stood in the doorway and frowned at them. "Stephanie and Cassandra will be here tomorrow," she said before turning on her heel. Before she left, she snapped out, _"Do close the blinds, Qwu."_

_"Of course, my Lady."_ She grinned, feeling high as a kite. Still standing in the middle of the room, Duke shuffled awkwardly as the door slid shut once more.

"So, uh, any chance for a debrief?"

True to Alice's word, Stephanie and Cassandra appeared the next day. Rachel had decided she wanted to pick flowers down by the stream, dragging Duke out with her once Jason was tugged away by the shinobi to act as part of the storm clean-up duty. In the silence, a peace only sustained in the calm before the storm, she watched and waited.

"This is pretty cool," said Duke, peering at a flower pinched between his fingers. "I'm pretty sure these are extinct back home. Apparently they were poisonous."

"Then why are you holding it?"

Duke spared her a droll look he'd no doubt stolen from Damian. "To toads."

"Could've fooled me," she muttered, making a show of squinting between Duke and the flower. Her eldest boy sqwaked at her in mock outrage as he started rambling on about getting the classifications of flora and fauna correct.

Rachel let herself drift in the middle tide between reality and dreamscape, idly half-listening to Duke as he lectured and half-humming with Red as it sung of cherries on trees and foxes in bushes. A loud pop to her left pulled her out of her daze, every blood vessel in her body straining as she flinched towards the sound. Duke had stopped speaking, borrowed katana held aloft in front of him. To any wandering eye his stature would be ill-mannered and unprofessional but that was the reason why he'd learned the rough way to stand — for times like this, where he needed a way to protect himself whilst not going out of whatever character he'd been pushed into for the role. Behind weak looking knees, he could floor a man three times his size.

A heart-wrenching purple cape ruffled in the ploom-like gust of wind that resounded from the pop's origins. A flash of light signalled its disappearance and in its place stood a black shadow, curled protectively around the purple.

"Stand easy, girls," Rachel assured. "It's only us."

"What—?" Stephanie jerked as Cassandra straightened, deeming the situation to be trustworthy by loosening her crushing gripped hug into a lose clutch of Steph's wrist. The purple-clad vigilante sucked in a breath and then seemed unsure of what to do with the immensely clean air. Even after a storm, the air was light and nothing near Gotham's smog. The girl's eyes skittered and found Rachel's, lenses widening as she tumbled forwards. "Rachel!"

Said woman barely caught the girl, hands wrapping around the younger's shoulders in an attempt to offset the inevitable boulder-like charge into her gut. Thankfully, Cass was on her side today and peeled Stephanie back before any damage could be done.

"Good to see you're both alright," she said, having already catalogued them for any signs of injury. They appeared to be fine, if not for the thin scratch along Stephanie's cheek. It wasn't even bleeding. "How are you feeling?"

Steph swallowed before nodding, eyes riveting to Cassandra for a tense moment of silence. The girls shared a glance, unspoken words that Rachel would never know flitting between them. Whatever was said soothed both into relaxing and eventually Duke stepped forward to crush Stephanie against his chest in a hug. Cassandra got a light clap on her shoulder as Steph squirmed.

Cassandra nodded to her. "I'm alright. How did we get here?"

"Grodd's bomb went haywire last minute," Rachel explained. "Turns out it didn't so much freeze time as send us hurtling back in it."

"Who else is here?" Stephanie sounded worried as she crawled out of Duke's boyish clutch.

"Just us," he clarified. "And Jason."

Cassandra's brow twitched — a sign of her discontentment. "Only five?"

"We have it on good word that everyone'll be here by the time two months has passed."

"'Good word'?" Stephanie echoed.

Rachel rolled her wrist along with her eyes. "Don't worry about it, little one. We should head back to get you two kimonos before dinner. And clean that cut of yours, Stephanie."

Said girl rolled her eyes beneath the cowl but said nothing. Rachel felt pride bloom for these children, knowing they'd let her fret when she felt the need to. It was assuring. It was relaxing.

A shadow loomed over Rachel, darkening the sight of the japanese chess board that sat between her and Alice. Feeling no malice from the presence she waited for her child to speak.

"Would you like to spar with me?" Cassandra asked eventually, after watching the session play out. Rachel was loosing badly against Alice and she had no idea how to remedy her problem. Occasionally, she mused, her kids really did show up at the right time.

(And her kids they were, by blood or not, the younger Waynes were hers. Bruce had lost his claim after Timothy. Even then, little Red Robin had drifted moreso towards her in the past years.)

Alice pulled knowing grey eyes up to watch her, a painfully familiar smirk on her lips. Sometimes Rachel felt like she should know the woman in front of her, other times she was half sure she was in a coma because the real world was not this confusing. The woman placed a tab down in a spot that Rachel knew would be the demise of her. She looked up to Cassandra.

The girl was ansty, on edge after no more members of their family had arrived. Barbara was not expected, as she'd been in the Cave as Oracle whilst multitasking between comms and her theory assignment for university, but even then none others had made it through yet. Cassandra fiddled with the wooden training katana in her grasp, twirling it like Stephanie often did with her eskrima sticks. Rachel knew the feeling of restlessness well and hated seeing it in one of her own. This was something she could fix, unlike her crushing demise by Alice's tabs. Plus, it was the least she could do, having sent Stephanie out on recon of the local area for any word of Grodd or one if their own. They'd been lucky that whenever one of theirs showed up they were there. Rachel worried over what would happen if they were not.

She worried a lot these days. Mainly over her kids.

"Very well," she eased herself to her feet, bouncing on her toes to make feeling return to her knees. She'd known sitting on her knees for so long would bite her in the ass later but she'd foolishly done it anyway. Although, seeing Cassandra's eyes twinkle at her discomfort was almost worth it. "Grab me a katana, darling?"

Cassandra jumped off the sun-sheltered platform that Setsumuno had set up to watch her soldiers train and trailed off towards the wall-racks. Rachel took the long way, going down the wooden steps, in an attempt to urge feeling back into her legs. There wasn't many shinobi training in the large inner sand-dust court today, seeing as most were still out helping the nearby village with storm reparations. Jason had been dragged out with them after a smirk from Alice and Duke, the dear, had accompanied him for the sake of a familiar face.

That boy deserves the world, she thought, squinting up at the sun's position. Mid-day. The boys wouldn't be back until it was beginning to set, for dinner.

We'd burn it for him, Red agreed.

A flimsy wooden sword was pressed into her hands, snapping Rachel out of her daze. She offered a nod of thanks to Cassandra and toed off the annoying sandals Japanese people insisted on wearing. The sand was hot under her feet, the feel nearly like that of the grimey arena tiles under her. The only differences between the hot sand and the old Court's marble arena was the fact that the marble had been constantly cold, no matter how much blood was split upon it. Plenty had.

"First to three taps?" Cassandra suggested when the silence dragged on. The hubble of four men by the far end of the court had paused to watch them, cruel grins flung their way. Rachel felt the need to prove herself well up, felt the thrum of Red in her blood. She twirled the practice katana in her hand and took up stance. Cassandra continued, "The usual game?"

The usual game consisted of using whatever hand you liked to hold your blade until you got a tap in. Then you swapped hands for each tap you got after that. It was a fun exercise, ensuring that the wielder could use both hands to varying levels of success. Recently it had went from a training exercise to a reoccurring favourite.

"Whenever you're ready," she said.

Cassandra sunk low, instantly springing forward to get a hit on her thigh. Rachel, prepared for the move, simply twirled back, parrying her blade and pushing against her. The former Shadow's assassin took the balance shift well, bouncing off the ground in a cartwheel and flurry of wood that could've been deadly had she a second sword. Any untrained scoundrel would've been bleeding out by now, loosing blood steadily from the ruptured artery in their thigh but Rachel was not untrained and she was most definitely not a scoundrel. Jason was a scoundrel, not her.

She bent at the knees, fake katana feeling light in her hands as she rushed Cassandra, only spinning back at the last second, when the other girl raised her katana for a parry. Rachel took the gap in defenses and stretched out, katana nicking the skin under the younger girl's ribcage. First tap. Cassandra huffed at the motion, rocking back as she kept her eyes on her at all times.

Good. Just as she'd been told to do.

Rachel tossed the practice sword into her left hand, giving it an experimental twirl that turned into a hasty block as Cassandra lunged. They danced around the courtyard, kicking up sand between parries and thrusts. The girl needed to work on her step-backs, for Rachel landed her second tap when the girl stumbled on one.

Pleasingly, Cassandra got a tap on her. A sign of her age, no doubt. Nonetheless, it made a significicant bubble of pride burst in Rachel's chest, something Cassandra could read in her body language, evidently, as the girl wavered and struggled to right herself moments after. Rachel took it easy, slowing the cut-throat pace of the spar as she allowed Cassandra a chance to catch up.

The girl danced back, watching her intently. Whenever Rachel noticed her gaze becoming locked on the blade she made sure to jerk her hands out, ensuring Cassandra knew not to limit her focus. After the second time it happened, she pulled herself back into the spar, swinging with a little more force than was perhaps necessary.

A swing for her head was ducked, Rachel sliding under the practice sword easily. Her katana swung up for the girl's neck, Rachel comfortable in the motion as she readily bounced forwards when the younger girl blocked and shifted wrong. Cassandra may have been an assassin once, trained both by Lord Cain and Lady Shiva, but she'd been a talon whilst the girl was barely a speck in her mother's womb. Before Cassandra's name had ever been uttered, Rachel had been Red and they'd been The Talon. She made sure Cassandra knew that when she became too cocky and took a reckless strike at her.

Cassandra understood her mistake, forgetting about her manoeuvre almost instantly in favour of kicking herself bodily backwards. She narrowly missed Rachel's swipe down, the dust kicked up by her roll buying her a moment as Rachel eased up her stance. Still obscured by the dust, she lunged forwards and—

_Pop_

—froze, sword held aloft. Damian pulled his head up, lenses spread wide as he dropped into a defensive stance and bared his katanas. Rachel felt her knees quiver as she stalled on the sand. Her youngest looked startled, expression quickly hardening as he tried to place his whereabouts. On his other side, Cassandra made a motion and placed her training katana on the ground.

"Damian," she managed, hurriedly waving at the dust surrounding them. From the shuffle of men to her left, the shinobi were worried something had happened. When the dust cleared, Damian shot them a steely glare before righting his gaze onto her and Cassandra, jumping between them for a moment before settling on Rachel.

"Where am I? What happened?" The boy shifted, uneasy. Rachel dropped her practice sword with a clatter and offered a sharp smile that she knew relaxed the boy. His shoulders shifted downward minutely.

"Japan. 1482. Grodd's time bomb malfunctioned and sent us here." The boy's brows furrowed but he sheathed his blades. Rachel opened her arms in hope for a hug. "It's good to see you, darling boy."

"I am not a boy," he grumbled, but walked into her grasp anyway. His arms clutched her waist for a moment before dropping back to his sides. Rachel took the sign for what it was and gave his shoulders one last squeeze before stepping back.

Cassandra nodded at the boy when his gaze wandered. "Where is everyone else?"

"We are still waiting on a few others," explained Rachel. Setsumuno had stood expectantly but she was in no mind to pay her heed. No, let the woman wait whilst she tended to her child. Thank the gods he seemed uninjured. "Other than us, Jason, Stephanie and Duke are here."

Damian clicked his tongue. "I see. I understand that we are expecting Drake and Father, then."

"Indeed," she chanced a hand out to flatten his unruly hair, silently satisfied when he didn't snap at her to take it away. Setsumuno twitched on the podium but Rachel ignored her with a wave of her hand. "Come," she said. "Let's see if they have anything for you to change into."

There were no children's kimonos or yukatas which wasn't as problematic as Rachel feared. Damian took well to a male yukata, only hesitating once on the ties before managing to right it himself. Assured, the fabric trailed a bit but Rachel quickly righted that with a knife.

By the time the sun was low in the sky, Damian had been versed on manners and basic Japanese. He already knew some, from his own studies, which helped along the effort. Rachel was silently proud. Now, they waited in the large dining room for the shinobi to drag their butts from the baths to join them for dinner.

Setsumuno sat at the head of the U-shape the small knee-high tables had been set in. Rachel was at the beginning of the curve, a place opposite her reserved for Jason. Cassandra had taken place beside Damian, Damian beside Rachel. Duke and Stephanie would therefore sit with Jason. Having everyone here was calming for her nerves, knowing they were all alright would do wonders, if the boys could hurry it up.

What if they're dead? She wondered. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost Jason out here.

_Don't be silly,_ Red chided. _You'd do the same as you would anywhere._

_True._ She'd rampage and slaughter every bastard that had even conceived the foolish notion to touch what was hers. Rachel would murder kings for her family. She'd maybe even kill herself, should need be. Given the right incentive — a life for a life — she wouldnt spare it a single thought. She'd just _do._

"Hope I didn't miss anything," Stephanie burst through the sliding doors, all smiles and rainbows as she took a seat directly opposite Cass. She for-went the actual seats and dropped indian-style on the other side of Cassandra's small table. The large gap in the center allowed for this but Alice raised an eyebrow nonetheless. Steph ignored the woman, like Rachel had this morning, and pulled a sneer at Damian. "Ugh, look what the cat dragged in."

"Fatgirl," Damian scowled. Rachel didn't appreciate his commentary — there would never be any bodyshaming in her presense — and slapped him lightly on the back of the head. His entire body rocked forth like he'd been dozed by a dumptruck.

Stephanie shot her an amused grin. "I can defend my own honour, y'know, _mom."_ It was said in jest but the protective feeling it ripped forth and planted in her chest made her take a sip of whatever shitty alcoholic beverage these people drunk — it was possibly sake.

"I'm aware," she said. Eyes flitting down to Damian, she side-eyed him. "But a trained warrior knows when to stop, _Damian_."

The boy wilted. Stephanie struggled not to laugh. Cassandra cleared her throat.

Rachel jumped topic. "You see the boys on the way in?"

"Ah, yeah," she nodded, finally giving in and moving to her own little table facing them in the U. "They should be here any minute now. Seen them come in from the village." She looked over to Alice. "They've done a great job cleaning up, you know."

Alice looked smug. "I wouldn't expect any less."

"'Course not," Jason announced himself, yukata half done. It hung around his waist, letting his black rose thorn tattoos (the ones that covered his Y-section scars) shine in the light. Alice peered at him, head tilted. "They're a good crew."

The woman merely nodded, taking the moment to speak further in english whilst it was just them. "You should get another tattoo," she suggested. "I know a good man. He'd give you a good dragon, black to match the thorns."

"Why'd I want a dragon?" Jason asked, settling down opposite Rachel after pecking her forehead. He bumped shoulders with Stephanie in welcome, winking to Damian and Cassandra.

"They're protective charms, in some places," Rachel spoke up, surprising herself. She wasn't one for tattoos normally, only having accepted Jason's thorns because he couldn't bare to put up with his image in the mirror without something covering the scars. Even more surprising was what she said next. "We could get matching ones."

Jason looked like he'd been dunked into the sea with no life raft. "You sure, Rache'? I mean—"

"Only if you want one," she hurried, feeling tongue tied and flustered. The kids had been oddly silent and a glance to them only found them sitting there, watching them.

"The artist is from overseas," Alice said, when it became apparent neither of them were going to speak. "He has real ink and he can draw well. Anna has had a few pieces from him before, in secret, of course."

All talk of tattoos fell away when Duke bounded into the room, a gaggle of shinobi following soon after. They ate in a companionable hum, Rachel and Jason catching each other's eyes with unspoken words. Over the course of dinner, they came to a conclusion.

"Tomorrow," Rachel queried, once the rice was gone and the men had wandered off to drink at their clean-up success. Alice offered her a blink before nodding.

"I'll see if he can make it."


End file.
